Of Kings Meeting Princes
by XSaduX
Summary: When Arthur returns, no one could have imagined his son being reincarnated too. Does this mean Arthur gets a second chance at raising William? (Happens in present time)


******AN: I don't own Merlin. I am definitely grateful that the writers managed to make such a great and popular series, which I just fell in love with! I only own William!**  
**Warning: English is not my mother tongue, so it is entirely possible there are spelling or grammar mistakes in my story. Do not hesitate to point them out to me. The errors in William's sentences are deliberate, however. Enjoy!**

******Spoilers: 5.13**

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It had been six months since Arthur had returned. The transition had not been easy. Merlin had come home more than once to find his friend in the process of threatening one of his electrical appliances. It never failed to amuse him. Of course, Arthur didn't think it was funny and insisted the appliance had attacked him. That, or it had refused to follow his orders. Things had been getting better for the last month, and Arthur had grasped the concept of a fridge, a microwave, a television (one of his favorites), a radio, the car and several other appliances.

Merlin was considering the idea of introducing his King to a computer and the internet, but he hesitated. Internet was a source of information, but not all of it was correct, and he feared Arthur would somehow end up reading something he shouldn't. Like fanfiction. People were free to imagine what they wanted, of course, but there were quite a lot of stories about King Arthur, and not one of them came close to reality. Arthur would probably destroy the computer if he read some of them. He had tried to make Arthur read some of the Arthurian legends, but his friend had thrown the first book across the room after reading the first few pages because it was all wrong ("Why would they even think you were an old man? I was older than you!") and he refused to touch the other books. And how could people ever come close to reality in fanfiction when they never heard the real story? So no, the internet would have to wait for now, at least until he managed to explain why all the stories were wrong.

It was Saturday now, and Merlin had forced Arthur to 'get his butt outside' since the weather was nice and warm. The King had preferred staying inside, since he didn't exactly like the current style of clothing and he could hardly go outside in the breeches and shirt he had been wearing when he came out of the lake. So this morning, Merlin had just shoved a jeans and t-shirt in his friend's hands and threatened to use magic to force him into the clothes.

They were walking through the park, the only place where Arthur was slightly comfortable. He grasped the concept of a car, but he didn't trust the noisy 'horses', so he preferred staying as far away from them as possible. The King had been asking questions of Merlin non-stop since they had left the house, about the current happenings, but also about life in Camelot after he died. The first few months, Merlin had been unable to talk about Camelot, shutting down, and Arthur had not pressured him, but he knew his King deserved to know about all of it. Bit by bit, he had started talking, until he could now answer the questions without getting overly emotional.

Arthur had seen the great changes, as guardian angel of his son, William, but he had not been privy to the discussions behind closed doors before William came of age. He knew nothing about Camelot before his son was born and he had no idea how Guinevere had reacted after hearing about his death. Even though Merlin had not been at court when that happened, he had heard about it from Leon, Percival and Gaius. And Merlin had been present at the council meetings later.

Following one of the little-used paths around a clearing in the park, they were remembering some of the knights' antics. Well, mostly about Gwaine, since he had been the biggest troublemaker of them. "You remember the feast on Samhain before the Dorocha? Well, when I was picking up your shirt in the kitchen, Gwaine and Percival were… Oomph!" Merlin was interrupted by a small boy coming from between the bushes around the clearing. The boy had run into his legs, making the warlock lose his balance and end up on his backside. "Auw…"

Arthur, having seen the collision, had managed to grab the boy's arm to keep him upright. "You should watch where you're going, young man," he scolded gently. The boy looked at both of them with big blue eyes. "I'm sorry, mister. I didn't mean to make you fall! I was just running to get my ball. The older boys kicked it away and I want it back." He looked at the ground, not noticing the expression on both men's faces. Merlin and Arthur looked at each other before looking back at the boy.

"It's… It's alright. Uhm…" Merlin was the first to speak, since Arthur was still stunned. He hadn't let go of the boy yet. The boy turned to Arthur, trying to pull away. "Sir? Will you let me go if I promise to never do it again? 'cause I promise! I won't run on the path without looking again." Arthur shook his head slightly before letting go. "Right, good, no more running into people." He was still confused. The boy looked exactly like William when Arthur had saved him. And if Merlin's look was any indication, Arthur wasn't the only one who thought so. He had to know. "What's your name, little one?" The boy scowled and crossed his arms. "I'm not little! I'm four!" Arthur bit back the laughter that threatened to spill. That had been William's reaction back then, too. Remembering the words he had used to appease the then-prince, Arthur decided to use them. "Oh, I'm sorry! My mistake." Just like last time he used them, the words satisfied the boy. "But you haven't told me your name yet." The boy fidgeted. "It's Liam, sir."

"Right, Liam, we were walking down here, but we haven't seen the ball cross the path. Are you sure it came this way?" Merlin took over. He was still on the ground, so Arthur offered his hand to pull up his friend. Liam nodded fervently. "Yes, I'm sure. The boys kicked it this way. But I didn't run after it im…immedialy. 'cause they were being mean to me and my friend, so I kicked them first for kicking my ball away." Despite knowing he shouldn't encourage behavior like that, Arthur burst out laughing. "Alright then, young man, go look for your ball," he managed to get out between bursts of laughter.

Liam ran off in between the bushes to search the toy. Watching after the boy, Arthur commented to Merlin "Oh, he's spirited. I like him." Merlin pursed his lips, thinking. "Liam is a diminutive of William. And he does look exactly like your son. Never thought he'd be reincarnated, however. But he definitely has some of your characteristics." At that moment, Liam came running out of the bushes with his ball. He stopped in front of them. "I'm really sorry, sir." Merlin smiled gently. "It's alright. No harm done."

Arthur smirked. "I quite like you, Liam. You must be rather strong, managing to knock Merlin here on his backside. I always thought he was secretly a girl, and now you've proven that for me." He caught Merlin throwing him an angry look and smirked even wider. The blond boy in front of him giggled and then looked up at the warlock. "Your name is Merlin? Like the wizard?" The former King frowned. How did a four-year-old know Merlin? His friend, however, just nodded. "Yep, I'm Merlin. And you want to know a secret? My friend here is called Arthur." Liam's eyes widened comically. "Really? Like the animated movie about King Arthur who pulled Excliber out of the stone and the wizard Merlin? But Merlin is sposed to be an old man!"

Merlin heard Arthur grumble behind him about idiots pretending to be old men and now everyone thought he was a wise old man. He smiled. "Yes, that's what the Disney movie says, isn't it. And King Arthur really did pull Excalibur out of the stone." Again, he heard Arthur grumble, thankfully too quiet for Liam to hear. "Hhmm, right, am I supposed to believe you had nothing to do with that?" The warlock threw a cocky grin at his King.

The young boy seemed to be in awe. "Wooow! That's so cool! And d'you have knights too? I'd like to be a knight when I'm bigger." Arthur smiled proudly. That boy was definitely his son. "I'm sure you'll be a very good knight." Liam nodded enthusiastically. "I will! My friend and me, we play knights all the time." Merlin smiled again, before speaking. "Maybe it's time you go back to your friend. I'm sure he and your parents are starting to get worried about you." He knew Arthur wanted to talk to the boy for a while longer, but he also knew that people would start thinking the wrong thing if they saw two unknown men with the little boy.

After he spoke, however, a sad expression appeared on Liam's face for the first time since they met him. "I'm not here with my parents. I'm here with Miss Katie and Miss Julia and Miss Lynn. They said I had to live with them for a while, 'cause my mommy and daddy won't be coming back. So now I live in a big house with lots of other kids." Merlin had to clear his throat before he could speak again. "Oh, I'm sorry. But I'm sure they care about you too, so they will be worried. D'you want us to come with you, so you can tell your friend you met a real Arthur and Merlin?"

Arthur frowned. What did Merlin think he was doing? He had gathered that Liam lost his parents, but why would Merlin offer to go with him. Liam paid him no attention and nodded eagerly. He ran off, expecting them to follow. The two men did so, but at a slower pace. "Merlin, what are you doing? You can't just tell anyone we're Arthur and Merlin…" The warlock rolled his eyes. "Relax. No one believes in magic anymore. And besides, he's introducing us to a kid. In a few years, the kid will think we were just playing. And if you hadn't noticed, Liam is an orphan. I'd like to know in which orphanage he's staying."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Oh, he's not staying in an orphanage. He's my son. I'm taking him in, as my ward or whatever they call it nowadays." His friend smiled. "Yes, I thought you might say that. They call it adoption nowadays, but there's a lot of official paperwork that has to be done, and we need to know where he's staying for that, so that we can talk to the people of the orphanage. I'll go do that, and you can talk to Liam and his friend for a while longer then." "Oh. Thank you, Merlin."

They first joined Liam and his friend to introduce themselves. Liam's friend, Jonathan, was just as impressed as Liam had been. Shortly after, Merlin left Arthur alone with the two boys and searched out one of the women supervising the group. When he looked back, he saw that Arthur and the two boys had all found a stick and were pretending they were swords. He chuckled and continued on his way.

When he joined the supervisor, she commented on the sight that made Merlin laugh earlier. "Your friend seems to get along well with kids." "He does, doesn't he? Never thought I'd say something like that, but yes, he's good with them. I'm Merlin by the way." "I'm Katie. Is there something you need? Did Liam do something he shouldn't have? I noticed he was missing for a few minutes and when he reappeared, the two of you were with him." "Oh, no, there was no problem. I mean, he did run me over, but that was partly my fault as well, no harm done. It's just, he found out my name, and, well, this may sound unbelievable, but my friend's name is Arthur, and that seemed to fascinate Liam." Katie smiled. "Yes, I suppose it did. His favorite movie is 'The Sword in the Stone'."

They were quiet for a few moments. "He's staying at the orphanage, right? How long has he been there?" Katie sighed. "Social services placed him in our care about six months ago, after his parents died in a car crash. He had no remaining family, his grandparents had all died a long time ago, and his parents were both only child. He's up for adoption, but he's unruly sometimes. Well, in fact, only when there are people interested in adopting one of the kids. It's like he doesn't want to be adopted." "He seems like a good kid. A bit of a handful, maybe, but a good kid overall." "He is. Actually, he's the favorite of all the women and girls working at the orphanage."

They were interrupted by Arthur, who nudged Merlin nervously. "Merlin, they want me to play a dragon. But I can't fly! How am I supposed to play a dragon then?" The dark-haired man had to keep from laughing. "Honestly, Arthur, just stomp around a little, growl quite a lot and try to snatch them up." Then he turned to the boys and called out to them. "Help! There's a dragon over here, and he said he's going to eat you boys. So you'll have to attack him before he can eat you." Katie had been watching their exchange and grinned. When Arthur was out of hearing distance, she spoke. "Are the two of you… um… together?" Merlin blushed, his eyes widening. "Oh! Oh no, no, no, we're just friends. Very good friends. We've known each other forever." "Oh, I just thought… Never mind."

Looking over at the playing boys again, Katie saw Liam had jumped on Arthur's back. Seeing them so close together brought out the similarities. "If I didn't know better, I'd say they are father and son. They look so much alike." Merlin bit his lip. "They do. Um, can I ask which home you are from? I can't be sure, but it seems like Liam stole Arthur's heart, and he may want to adopt him."

Katie named the place she worked at and gave the address to Merlin. "I have to ask not to say anything to Liam, though. We have seen children who were disappointed when people who said they were interested to adopt them suddenly decided not to go through with it, so we try to avoid that." The warlock nodded. "Of course, I understand. We'll look into it and see what we can do." "If I may ask, why would a young man as your friend, undoubtedly capable of having his own children, be willing to adopt?" Merlin pondered what his answer should be. He could hardly say that the boy was the reincarnation of Arthur's son, and Arthur was actually the legendary King Arthur Pendragon, returned to life. "He's... Well, as long as I've known him, he's always had the urge to help and protect those in need. A young, clever boy like Liam would fall into that category."

At Katie's questioning frown, he continued. "I'm not saying he doesn't get the necessary care in the home where he's staying. I'm sure you do the best you can, and I can see that you care for all of these children. But you have to divide your attention and affection over a number of kids, whereas Arthur, or any other person who adopts a child, can focus more on the child. Liam is four, and I'm sure he misses a real father figure, which would explain his fascination with King Arthur." The woman thought about this, eventually nodding. "He does. And he seems to get along with Arthur. Maybe he wouldn't be opposed to adoption if it was your friend."

After a few more minutes of talking, Katie announced it was time to get back to the home. She called out to the children. Arthur came with Liam and Jonathan. Liam seemed reluctant to leave his new friend. After Katie left with the children, Arthur turned to Merlin. "So? What did she say?" "He's up for adoption. But she asked not to mention anything to him, until you're sure you will be able to take him in, so he won't be disappointed if it doesn't work out. We'll need to contact an adoption agency, and there are requirements. I'll have to use quite a bit of magic to get you the right papers and a history, since you suddenly popped up out of nowhere." "Right. So, get to it. I want Liam with me as soon as possible." Merlin rolled his eyes and answered sarcastically. "Yes, Sire."

While walking back to Merlin's house, Arthur was quiet, clueing Merlin in that his friend was troubled. "Okay, out with it, what's bothering you?" "He didn't seem to remember anything." Merlin sighed. "Not consciously, maybe. But unconsciously, I think he does. There's a reason he immediately took a liking to you. And that his favorite movie is about King Arthur. And maybe it's for the best that he doesn't remember." Arthur frowned at him, making him continue. " He may remember when he gets older. But think about it, Arthur. If he remembered his previous life, he would have all the memories of an adult. He was past seventy when he died, he had a long, full life. He would be an adult in a child's body. At least now, he can enjoy his childhood, even more than last time, since he was raised from a young age to be a King. Now, there will be no pressure, no responsibilities."

Arthur thought about it and nodded slowly. "You're right. It's better this way. But you have to admit, Fate hasn't been kind to him. Last time, he had to grow up without a father, and this time, he lost both his parents before he had a chance to really get to know them. He deserves better than that, Merlin." The warlock smiled mysteriously. "Maybe he does. But did you ever think about the fact that this is Fate's way of giving both of you a second chance?"

-x-x-x-x-

Almost a year later, after a lot of meddling from Merlin, the adoption had finally gotten through. Liam had, unsurprisingly, not had a problem with the adoption. Arthur could finally say the boy was his son, and he couldn't be more happy. He finally understood what Merlin was trying to say all those month ago. Tucking his son in and hearing Liam call him 'daddy' while half asleep, he realized this was his second chance at being a father, and he would do everything in his power not to screw it up.

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**AN: Those who read my other story, 'Of Princes and Guardian Angels' may have noticed I used the exact same sentences. For those who didn't, William made his first appearance in that story. There are a few others about William too, but I tried to write this story so that you didn't need to read any of my other stories to be able to read this one. I hope I succeeded.**

**Oh, and I'm not British, so I don't know how the adoption procedure works there, although I figure that it may be similar to the one here. To be honest, I don't know much about the one here, either, just that it takes quite long and there are a lot of requirements and assessments before you can adopt. I deliberately tried to keep it vague for those reasons. I did look up whether it was possible for a single man to adopt, and on the web I found it was possible. I hope that's true. And I'm not sure whether they still call it an orphanage, so I tried to keep away from that word when Katie was speaking. To Merlin and Arthur, however, it would be the same.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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